July 28, 2012

It's not that often that I do something new, but I did something new yesterday: stand-up paddleboarding. I managed to stand up, didn't fall in, and paddled around Lake Wingra as the sun set. It was cool. Cool enough to invest in all the equipment? I don't know. We rented: here.

Always good to try before you buy. We eventually bought our own snorkeling gear - in no small part because The Blonde didn't like the idea of using snorkels snorked by other people, no matter how well they were cleaned.

If this catches on, does this mean we will see swimsuited Althouse or wetsuited Althouse?

When I read the word "paddle board", I had a totally different sort of device in mind, the sort of device that I shall like to get when I reach my second adolescence, hopefully to be used on a fine young man just out of his first.

Saw "paddleboard" and was taken back to my school days in jr high (1965-67) when the male gym coach could (and did) use a paddleboard on boys who violated various rules. He had inch-wide holes drilled through the board as well. ..bruce..

Thought it was weird, but then it made sense since Naples has *no* *waves* at all.

Have since seen someone doing it in the background of some photo -- or was it a celeb doing it ... can't remember.

Re the kayaking suggestion, Curious G? It would seem there will be no crossover. You aren't talking about apples and oranges, you are talking the difference between trikes and motocross. Or x country skiing versus slalom.

Old people can paddleboard in sedate water, so therefore I predict an increase in the future. (Don't take offense, Prof. But for a sedentary someone marrying a mountain biker ... it works.)

Paddleboarders surf. They clog up the limited area where the waves break, and are not as nimble to get out of the way of a surfer getting up on a wave. There's a protocol wherin you yield quickly to someone who gets up first. You'll see paddleboarders akin to your genre on the bay. The surfers believe either surf, or paddleboard out of the way of prime breakers. I tend to side w/ the surfer dudes but simply from a safety standpoint.

Speaking of paddles:You sit on the good old screen porch, looking at the good old view and the good old mosquitoes drone in for that good old bite BUTyou have the brand new Super Voltage Bug Zapper shaped like a small tennis racket which you twirl through the air - and no more Mr Mosquito. No nasty oils, useless citronella candles ... You long for that droning whine so it's your turn for the zapper. I did not make this myself but some bright soul in a dark era did.

On a lake, paddle boarders are like kayakers, moving in a similar way, but standing up. The issues with surfers described above are irrelevant where we are, and paddleboarding is the more challenging of the similar activities. But neither is very challenging. You could try to go faster, but you're not going to be in anyone's way. There's no conflict of that kind on the lake.